Oil deal with Iran a 'business action', says China
Beijing (PTI): China on Tuesday sought to play down concerns expressed by the US over a USD two billion deal signed by its oil giant, Sinopec, to develop a huge oil field in Iran, saying it was a "business action".
"It is a business conducted by a Chinese company based on equality and mutual respect with Iran. It is a business action," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang told a regular new briefing here.
"So the Chinese government does not need to comment on that (deal)," he said.
The US has expressed disappointment over the deal by China's biggest oil refiner and petrochemicals producer, maintaining that it would undermine international efforts to pressurize Iran to abandon its nuclear programme.
"We are deeply disappointed and disturbed at the reports (of the deal)," US State Department spokeswoman Jessica Simon had said in Washington on Monday, adding, they would make their position clear to China.
Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari had said the deal showed that the Western efforts to isolate Iran had failed.
The Chinese company's deal comes close on the heels of the US Intelligence report which said Iran had halted its nuclear programme in 2003, in the midst of stepped up efforts by the US to push for tougher sanctions against Tehran to jettison its nuclear programme.
Despite the pressure from the West for stronger action, China and another veto-wielding member in the UN, Russia, have been persistent with their line that the standoff should be ended through the diplomatic route.
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